LIMITED investment in research across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is undermining the country’s ability to design and execute sustainable development plans.
An officer of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), who made the assertion, pointed out that although development planning required evidence-based data to guide decision-making, the amount of resources allocated to research in most institutional budgets remained low, resulting in plans that were overly aspirational and difficult to execute.
The Director of Research Innovation at the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Richard Tweneboah-Kodua, who made this point at the Graphic Business/ Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting in Accra on November 25, emphasised that the challenge had persisted for years, in spite of repeated reminders.
“The quantum of resources that are dedicated to research is low. We always encourage MDAs and the districts to undertake the needed research to guide their plans, but what we find in their budgets is inadequate,” he stated.
Mr Tweneboah-Kodua explained that without data-backed analysis, many development plans would fail to clearly identify the binding constraints affecting project delivery, leading to delays, cost overruns and limited impact on communities.
“As a country, we must ensure that our development interventions are backed by evidence. You cannot prepare a budget of GH¢100 when you know your ceiling is GH¢50.”
“The reports will eventually show that you couldn’t achieve what you planned, because your foundations were not supported by proper research,” Mr Tweneboah-Kodua said.
Breakfast Meeting
The Graphic Business-Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting is a quarterly event organised by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) for the business community to exchange ideas on the prospects of the economy.
The meeting, which was the third edition, was on the theme: “BEYOND POLITICAL CYCLES: Creating Long Term Development Pathways for Sustainable Investor Confidence.”
It brought together participants from the business community, academia, civil society and think tanks to align national development objectives with global standards and discuss strategies for bridging policy gaps.
He disclosed that NDPC in recent years had intensified efforts to address the gap by establishing an Innovation Division to work closely with MDAs and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The division, he said, helped institutions identify implementation challenges and gather the necessary data to inform decision-making.
“We created the Research and Innovation Division about three or four years ago to support the sectors and districts.
One of our findings is that many projects start without a clear financing arrangement simply because the background research was not done,” he said.
He added that proper research would also allow MDAs to prioritise their most essential programmes, rather than compiling long lists of interventions with limited resources to implement them.
He explained that increasing investment in research will significantly improve the quality of national development plans and ensure that government resources are directed toward initiatives with the highest impact.
“Our development planning must be grounded in evidence; if we are mindful of this and plan based on proper research, we will overcome many of the challenges that continue to limit our progress as a country,” Mr Tweneboah-Kodua said.
Prioritising research
An Economist at the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey, said Ghana’s development ambitions would continue to stall unless the government prioritises funding for research, innovation and national planning at all levels of governance.
He explained that key state institutions, including the NDPC and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), remained under-resourced, despite being central to effective long-term development.
He said the continuous neglect of research-based planning had contributed to weak policy implementation and repeated cycles of abandoned development initiatives.
He noted that long-term plans often fail not because they are poorly designed, but because the country does not invest in the data, analysis and planning required to guide implementation.
“It is not just about funding NDPC, it is about taking research and innovation seriously, because that is how you prioritise programmes in a way that supports real development,” Prof. Quartey said.
He cautioned that Ghana risked lagging behind other developing countries if it did not strengthen its capacity for research-driven policy making, especially in an era where global development strategies were anchored on data and innovation.
